Trailer hitches using two complementary components (one attached to the towing vehicle and its complement attached to the trailer to be towed). Although these hitches (such as ball or ring hitches, for example) are easy to operate by a single person, the initial alignment of the two hitch components can prove to be difficult for usually the hitch components are obscured from the vehicle operator's view by the vehicle itself. As a result, the vehicle operator has to repeatedly exit the vehicle to check the alignment of the two hitch components, or the vehicle operator has to employ another person to take position outside the vehicle and direct the vehicle operator as to the appropriate action to align the trailer hitch components. Neither of these methods are as accurate or convenient as visual feedback while operating the vehicle.
Attempts have been made to provide the driver with means for viewing normally obstructed portions of the vehicle. Some, such as the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,956 granted to Erickson are not designed for nor appropriate to trailer-hitch alignment as it is designed to view spaces interior to the vehicle. Other devices, such as the device of U.S. Pat. No. 3,767,292 granted to Ruthowski, that are designed specifically to aid in the alignment of trailer hitches suffer from the drawback of being attached to the trailer which requires the vehicle operator to align his vehicle with the device before the device can be used. The device further would either have to be constantly readjusted to compensate for varying operator positions in various vehicles or employ a convex mirror which would lead to dimensional distortions making alignment more difficult. Also, a separate unit would have to be produced for each trailer, raising total cost of manufacturing the device for multiple trailer applications.